Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was so much fun. We celebrated with good friends in LA. We cooked and cooked and cooked all day for the food to be devoured in just minutes 😄 while the kids played and the guys sat around drinking beers. It's really crazy when you think about it. All that time it takes - all that food but it's literally gone in just minutes. We need to start incorporating more of the mediterranean eating style where you sit at the table for hours, drink wine, conversate. Don't you agree? At least all the cooks out there 😛? And then the hilarious tradition of the men cutting the turkey after everything is said and done. The ones that didn't lift one finger to get the feast ready 😅. 

Anyways we had a great day and I hope you did too!

These two are so cute together 💓

The feast! Not even all of it.

The cutting of the turkey!

Selfie-time

One person is always bound to look a little 'different' than the others in a pic with a lot of people, especially if the pic involves kids. Not sure what happened to little Sofia here 😅

SWEA Sing

As I'm sure most of you know I'm on the SWEA Board (Swedish Women Educational Association) and I'm responsible for all the members. It's so fun to be a part of the group and it keeps getting better and better the more people you meet and get to know. The age difference in SWEA SB varies from I would say late 20's to early 90's. I have to say that mingling amongst Swedish women of all ages have been such a great experience. The older ladies in the group are amazing, so fun and it's interesting to hear what they have to say about living in the US, when they first came here, their experiences in life etc. It can be very inspiring and I've learnt a lot visiting with these ladies.

Our latest event was a "sing meeting" in Oxnard at one of our members' houses, Madeleine. She was kind enough to open up her house to us. We all brought a lunch dish to share, we mingled, talked, ate and sang. Karin, a Swedish pianist was invited to play for all of us. She was amazing. Of course the songs we sang were old Swedish folk songs.

It really made you feel at home eating all the Swedish foods, and singing all the Swedish songs.

So Swedish right?! 💙

This bread was AHHHHHHMAAAAZIIING. Must get this recipe.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. Last year Lilja ended up getting sick on actual Halloween and the costume we had planned for last year was for her to be a cat.  She's been talking about her cat costume for over a year now haha so she was really happy when the time finally came for her to wear it. Since she was sick last year we already had her costume, as well as Sofia's. I had some cat ears and a tail that I threw on and all I had to do was find something for Eric. The plan was to be cats and dogs.

The dog costume selection around Santa Barbara and even online was pretty scarce. The only think I could find was a big dog onesie costume. It looks so comfortable though, and I will most likely end up wearing it like pretty much every single day around the house. Maybe even outside of the house 😝.

Here are some pics from our Halloween fun...

Of course we carved pumpkins like we do every year. It's getting to be more fun for every year that goes by as the kids are getting more involved.

Lilja had a Halloween parade during the day of Halloween that Eric was able to come to which was fun.  All the kids were so cute.

My little cat 🐱💖

Someone else got to partake in the Halloween parade festivities and of course the candy 😆

Look at all these cuties 💞

It was a busy day with Halloween trick or treating that night. But oh so fun! We're so lucky to live in the same town as Eric's sister with kids, and we normally trick or treat together. Our kids and their kids are like siblings and they love to hang out. We're blessed that they can spend this time together and share these amazing memories.

I just can't with these two 💕

I mean....

How cute is little V as Dorothy 💓

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Boo at the Zoo

Every year it has become a tradition for us to visit the Santa Barbara Zoo for their Halloween celebration, Boo at the Zoo. This year it definitely didn't disappoint. But I have to say that there were way too many people. I've never seen it so packed. And this was on a Sunday! Boo at the Zoo goes from Friday-Sunday so I thought we wouldn't have to be stuck in a crowd, but I was wrong. We had to park blocks away and walk to the zoo and stand in line forever for tickets. Next year I'm definitely buying the tickets online.

The zoo puts on a great show, with trick or treating, disco dancing, spooky surroundings with amazing zoo workers who dress up as ghouls and ghosts, princesses and other creatures. They even have a Haunted House but our kids were too scared to try that. Maybe next year. 

The same day before Boo at the Zoo we made Halloween cookies and decorated them 😀

A mommy cat with her kitty and puppy 💓

Hur fina är inte alla!!!

Otroliga, helt hemmagjorda kostymer a la Susanne.

      

Fiesta Fun

For years now we have gone to the Mission to partake in the festivities of the opening night of Fiesta. Everyone puts out a picnic blanket, bring some food and drinks and sit down to enjoy the show. It's always fun to kick off Fiesta that way, ease into the remainder of the celebratory days.

Fiesta can be quite exhausting. It's almost a whole week of celebrating. A big party that goes on in multiple locations of Santa Barbara. You pick and chose what you want to do and there is definitely no shortage of activities to chose from. You can be busy 24/7 if you want to.

We didn't go too crazy this year. First off we have kids and I wasn't really feeling the whole thing this year. But again, it was fun to be a part of the opening night. It has become a mandatory tradition of ours.

My 💜

Our little rascal 😄